Al DeMarco
Al DeMarco Saturday's Play
5 Dime - Minnesota Twins
One of the keys to my success when it comes to baseball is reviewing every boxscore of every game on a daily basis, committing to memory the pitching lines of those starters that catch my attention. One such pitcher was Minnesota's Francisco Liriano, who after losing his first four starts of the season, allowing 17 earned runs in 21 innings pitched, seemingly turned the corner with a strong performance against Tampa on April 28 in which he held the Rays to two runs in 6 2/3 innings. But it was his next start this past Monday that made me commit to backing him today, an outing where he shutdown Detroit, fanning a season-high nine while holding the Tigers to two runs on four hits over 7 1/3 innings.
Tonight's game represents a rematch for Liriano of his first start of the season - also at home - against Seattle and Felix Hernandez. In that contest, the Minnesota lefthander absorbed the loss after allowing four hits and four runs in seven innings. For Hernandez, it marked a season-opening run of five straight wins as he limited the Twins to one run on five hits over eight innings.
Hernandez had his winning streak snapped in his last outing. Coming off a bout with the flu, the righthander was tagged for 10 hits and six earned runs by red-hot Texas at home. That contest started a Seattle losing streak that was extended to five in a row with last night's 11-0 loss as the Mariners have scored a total of nine runs in that period with only four of them coming in the last four games.
The Twins snapped their own three-game slide with last night's outburst. With Liriano rounding back into form and the Mariners struggling offensively, I'll back the Minnesota southpaw in home revenge at a cheap price noting his 2.32 career ERA in five previous starts versus Seattle.
BOUGHT,PAID AND CONFIRMED---------GL GUYS
